1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for breaching structures, and more particularly to a flexible, fillable, and/or inflatable bag for use with explosive charges for breaching locked or barricaded doors, walls, roofs and ceilings.
2. Background Art
Special weapons and tactic (SWAT) teams or other police and military personnel frequently use breaching apparatus to gain entry into locked and barricaded buildings, where criminals, terrorists, hostages, drug caches and the like are located. SWAT teams routinely breach doors quickly by using battering rams, shotguns, and/or explosive charges. These devices can be employed singly or in combination to break the lock or hinges, or even to demolish the door frame itself.
It is known to use explosives to breach doors, but it is challenging to fashion a charge sufficient to blow open a door without causing injury to building occupants and while minimizing damage to property. Explosive charges can be shaped and the blast wave concentrated by reinforcing certain areas surrounding the charge. A shaped charge, by design, focuses its energy into a narrow blast trajectory, making it very accurate and controllable. When size is added to that accuracy, the effect can be dramatic. Shaped charges were first developed after World War I to penetrate tanks and other armored equipment. Their most extensive use today is in the oil and gas industry, where they are used to open rock around drilled wells.
In the case of doors and windows, it is desirable to concentrate a blast wave to impact a region roughly two to three feet in diameter directly on the structure. Additionally, it is important to eliminate potentially injurious back blast. Accordingly, a number of interacting factors must be carefully calculated, including the type, size and focus of the explosive charge, the stand-off distance with which the charge is placed, and the kind (if any) of casing or jacketing to shape, disperse, and direct the blast wave.
In recent years law enforcement agencies have discovered that it is possible to shape a suitable charge through the combination of detonating cord and conventional intravenous bags, plastic soda bottles, or similar containers. To avoid the inconsistencies occasioned by such use, a flexible and/or foldable and easily portable apparatus was designed and has been successfully been employed as a jacketing material for door breach charges. The present invention, hereafter referred to as a “breach bag,” is an apparatus that can be adapted to many different situations which necessitate the controlled penetration of a locked entryway, wall or armored surface. Essentially, the breach bag incorporates one or more bladders that can be filled with water (or another non-compressible fluid) or sand or with various metals in various shapes and sizes. By changing the configuration of the breach bag, a directed blast wave or a shaped charge projectile can be provided, the particular blast characteristics depending largely on the bladder configuration and contents. Few prior art references are known, the most notable among them including the following United States patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,658,006 to Nistler, et al., describes an explosively actuated egress and ingress device having a case formed of relatively light-weight material with an outer surface, and having a linear-shaped explosive positioned within the case adjacent to the outer surface. The case includes a resilient backing material. A pliable gathering material may also be provided within the case to the rear of the linear-shaped explosive charge. The device is designed to cut large holes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,430 to Gibb, et al., discloses a small and lightweight breaching apparatus that provides sufficient energy to breach a wall. The apparatus consists of a number of panels, each including a material matrix and a linear shaped charge embedded in the matrix. Each end of the charge is located adjacent an edge of the panel. The panels are configured to be assembled edge to edge in an open condition with the linear shaped charges arranged end to end, or face to face in a closed condition, with charges on the inside of the assembly. The apparatus may be collapsed for storage and transport and assembled in its open condition to produce a linear charge of fixed shape.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,708 to Palley, et al., describes a blast resistant and blast-directing container assembly for receiving explosive articles and preventing or minimizing damage in the event of an explosion. The container assembly includes an opening covered by a band of blast resistant material with at least one slit in the band and possibly blast mitigating material disposed in the container. The container can be collapsible for storage when empty.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,000,545 to Sansolo, teaches a breaching apparatus including a housing constructed of a material and an explosive charge placed in the housing. When detonated, the housing disintegrates in the explosion without giving off significant material fragments.
The foregoing patents reflect the current state of the art of which the present inventor is aware. Reference to, and discussion of, these patents is intended to aid in discharging Applicant's acknowledged duty of candor in disclosing information that may be relevant to the examination of claims to the present invention. However, it is respectfully submitted that none of the above-indicated patents disclose, teach, suggest, show, or otherwise render obvious, either singly or when considered in combination, the invention described and claimed herein.